Amia has been in a questioning mood since the spring, but she's really hit her stride in late summer and fall. For some reason I didn't think it would be this hard to answer a 3 year olds questions, but it.is.tough. She just keeps asking and asking till she's got you up against a wall with nowhere else to go except mommy. It's this persistent curiosity about the world that gets to the essential root of things. And her questions can usually be categorized along these lines:

The spiritual world

The natural world

The technical world

Human anatomy

Comedy

Things having to do with school

Work

Musicians and artists

Some brief samples. To get the full experience try answering these as if you were speaking to a 3 year old. And keep in mind that most of these are from single conversations.

A: Where is God? Was God born? Why did He create all of us? Why does He love me? Did He laugh when I was born?

A: Can boys have babies? Why not? When can I have babies?

A: When will it be winter? Why? Why does it get cold? When will it snow? Why does it snow? Why isn't the snow staying on the ground? (it was melting as it touched the ground) What's melting?

A: Who sings this? Why does she sing this? Why is this song so long?

A: Was that a joke? What's funny? Why is that funny? Why do I laugh? Why do I make people laugh? Why do people laugh?

A: Why do people love me? Why do I love them? What is love?

Any answers to these questions are appreciated and will be noted and credited if used in conversation.

I'm wishing my camera phone was a little better. Whenever I find myself out with Amia that last thing I want to carry around is a camera, in addition to the snacks, changes of clothes, toys, and books that are a regular part of any outing. So I usually end up taking pics with my camera phone, which I share with you now...

This is her shadow on the movie screen as she watches the credits to the Bee Movie, which is a great kids movie by the way. No scary parts, and it was really clever.

Amia and part of the tribe that went to the Aquarium the other day. The white shape in the water is a beluga whale.

Amia watching a dolphin swimming by.

Amia's other favorite activity in the car, in addition to 1) eating a treat, and 2) watching a movie on the "big road" (the highway) on longer car trips.

This is the village that went to the Aquarium all having lunch before hitting the sights. We took up 3 tables. It was so fun!

I took the day off today so Amia and I can take advantage of the free day at the Aquarium! It was just going to be us, but now it's a small village! Amia, Katie, Elsa, Liz, Olivia, Kerena, Kofi, Teresa, Mohandas, Karima, Kim, Kapono, and me--3 babies, 3 toddlers, 2 older kids, 4 moms, and 1 dad. It's gonna be a blast. And it's perfect timing because Suzanne has a final today so she'll pretty much get the whole day to herself.

Also, I have 3 new favorite things. One is the new Radiohead album 'In Rainbows'. I listen to it all the time, sometimes throughout the whole day. Aside from the music, which is brilliant, they did something brilliant with the distribution. They posted the album on their website and let people pay however much they want, even nothing. It felt so empowering. Really made me think about how people should be compensated for their art. Should I pay how much it means to me, which, if I had to put a figure on it, would be thousands of dollars? How much the artist needs for their own needs (in this case the artists are doing really well)? How much it cost them to make it? The socio-cultural value of the music? How much I can pay? I have no idea. I guess it's a case by case thing.

Also, one of my new favorite shows is Pushing Daisies. Visually it's like Amelie. Comedically it's like Princess Bride-subtle, quirky jokes that creep up on you. I love it.

I've also started watching this new HBO show called Tell Me You Love Me. It's about 3 couples in various stages of coupledom-about to get married, trying to have a baby, and married with kids for 10 years. It's a bit controversial because of the GRAPHIC sex portrayed in the show, but has gotten critical acclaim because of the amazing way it explores the characters emotions. I've only seen 1.5 episodes so far but it was amazing. The only thing that matters in the show are the characters emotional journey. Each hour long episode is shot like 50% in closeup. There's no music, you have a vague idea that the characters work but only insofar as it helps you understand what they're going through you know about it. And I can't help but think that while the sex is graphic, it's not glamorized in any way, that maybe this is how sex is supposed to be portrayed in film, as a way to help you understand the characters. It's pretty amazing, I think.

I'm really thanking someone out there for this little thing called Facebook. Do you know how amazing this thing is? I've been digging it for a while, loving how easy it is to connect with all kinds of people I've been wanting to connect with. But I've just discovered another level--game applications.

My two favorites are Scrabulous (which I started playing after reading an article with the founder of Facebook who plays this with his grandparents), which is a Scrabble game, and Bogglific. These are my favorite games outside of the virtual world. I once went on a 7 year winning streak with Scrabble (only to be defeated one fateful day by my own hand), playing with anyone I could find. I have since played Scrabble maybe, maybe 2 times since becoming a parent. Now I can play with friends all over the world! And Bogglific is just quick games of Boggle with people from all over the world! I love it! I finally get to play board, er, um, screen, games. Although I'm a bit rusty with both games at this point, I'm having so much fun it doesn't matter.

Last week I spent a great couple days at the National Treasurers Forum, a national conference for treasurers of Local Spiritual Assemblies (local Baha'i governing bodies), at the beeyootiful Green Acre Baha'i School in Eliot, Maine. The first night out we all got to have lobster, which was a dear wish of mine while I was out there. It was as delicious as I'd hoped it would be. And the conference itself was great! Got to see my great friend Bahiyyih, on a much needed self road trip, and meet some amazing people from around the country. I gave some presentations that I really enjoyed giving and the participants seemed to enjoy, and just generally enjoyed being in Maine this time of year. Ever since I got back I've been sick with some kind of stomach flu thingy, but I think I'm out on the other end, which is good. I think I'ma do a half day at work today and see how that goes.